Recently Carol Hughes put out a news release that was full of misinformation about recent decisions made by our Government. I would like to correct the record and respond to these statements. The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) had ongoing organizational issues. Health Canada attempted to help the organization resolve these issues over the last three years. Unfortunately, despite the Government's best efforts, the issues were not resolved. This led to NAHO losing the support of the major aboriginal groups that founded it. In fact, the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Metis National Council advised the Minister of Health that they wanted the funds allocated to their individual centres and that they were pulling out of NAHO.
“Our Government is committed to making sure that government operates as efficiently as possible” said MP Bryan Hayes. “Health Canada will continue to focus on its core role which is delivering health services to First Nations on reserve, and promoting the health of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
The Conservative Government continues to make major investments in Aboriginal health, nursing, and research. We have invested over $30 million per year in Aboriginal health research and over $2.2 billion in the First Nation and Inuit Health program.
Carol Hughes and the NDP need to put Canada’s economy and Canadian jobs first, instead of playing games with the facts for partisan purposes.
